Frankenstein--Mary Shelley

[TiGGeR LoVeR]

ok so i have a essay on the novel due tomorrow..and i need a bit of assistance with the following question:

1.Who is the real Monster in the novel?? or are both Monsters??

oh yea here's an opiniated question:

♠What is your definition of a monster?

[Coco]

I see Victor as a monster--i.e., a person who madly drives ahead with his/her own selfish wished with no regard for others--because he creates a life with no mother and no childhood,a nd then he promptly abandons it. The Romantics valued childhood very highly, and the creature is denied everything valuable about childhood: a name, a mother to love/nurture him, and parents to teach him how to talk, behave in public, and relate to other human beings. No matter how bad life gets, a person has family who loves hims and accepts him. Even when we are not lovable, our parents love us. Even when we are not beautiful, our parents accept us. They teach us how to get through the difficult times and how to handle our negative emotions. Most importantly, they teach us about God who helps us when parents and friends cannot.

The creature gets NONE of this. Victor runs away immediately, leaving the creature to fend for himself in a very cruel world.

This brings up another idea. Yes, the creature behaves like a monster. But how did he get that way? Victor is partly to blame, but so is the society in general. The creature is hated because he is ugly and feared because he is large. No one shows him kindness, so he learns to be mean. The books he reads (and Safie's life story) show him treachery and mischief and dishonesty, so he takes on those behaviors. So, in a way our society is also a "monster."

I hope this helps.

[Cr_B]

there are a lot of different points of view as to the definition of a 'monster' and who exactly that is in Frankenstein. Here is a really helpful review that gives a lot of ideas http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...in.html?cat=38

[khanh0702]

In the book it was hardly twice or so been called a "Monster".

I know what you mean with your mixed emotions - I felt the same way. When the monster came to life, he was not really a monster in any way but appearance. He technically learned how to be a monster (and became violent) from humans. That is why I think the humans are the real monsters in the story.

[jtiller]

Hello, I would have to say the the creator is the 'real' monster. I'm sure you are probably aware of the fact that the creator has given life to the creature; therefore it is his responsibility to nurture his creation. Instead, the creator is disappointed at what he has created in which he made a statement saying "for this I deprived myself of rest". Perhaps, if the creator had treated his creation with respect, the outcome of the narrative would have been different." The creature would not have committed those crimes if he had been treated like a human being. But for some reason, it all comes down to the fact that the creature had not been treated fairly by the one person that he should have been able to count on which is the creator.